Exposure to Glyphosate-Based Herbicides and Risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Meta-Analysis and Supporting Evidence

Publication date: Available online 10 February 2019Source: Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation ResearchAuthor(s): Luoping Zhang, Iemaan Rana, Emanuela Taioli, Rachel M. Shaffer, Lianne SheppardAbstractGlyphosate is the most widely used broad-spectrum systemic herbicide in the world. Recent evaluations of glyphosate’s carcinogenic potential by various regional, national and international agencies have engendered controversy. We independently investigate whether there is an association between high cumulative exposures to glyphosate and increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in humans and conduct a new meta-analysis that includes the most recent update of the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) cohort in 2018 along with five case-control studies. For comparison, we also perform an additional meta-analysis with the earlier AHS (2005) report and multiple sensitivity tests to assess the validity of our findings. Using the highest exposure groups when available in our meta-analyses, we report the overall meta-relative risk (meta-RR) of NHL in glyphosate-exposed workers is increased by 41% (meta-RR = 1.41, 95% CI, confidence interval: 1.13–1.75). Our comparison meta-analysis with the earlier AHS shows an increased meta-RR for NHL of 1.45 (95% CI: 1.11–1.91), which is higher than the meta-RRs previously reported. Sensitivity tests did not reveal meaningful differences from our estimated meta-RR. To contextualize our findings of an increased NHL risk in workers with high...
Source: Mutation Research Reviews in Mutation Research - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research